Free guide · Local SEO
Plumbers, cleaners, mobile mechanics, home-based studios: if customers never come to you, you can still show up on Google Maps and in Google's AI answers. The trick is setting it up as a service-area business, so your address stays private. Here's how, step by step.
Step by step
Sign in at google.com/business with an account the business owns, not an employee's or your web designer's. Whoever owns that account owns the listing.
Exactly as customers see it on your truck, invoices or sign. Adding cities or keywords to the name breaks Google's rules and can get the profile suspended.
"Plumber" beats "Contractor". Your main category matters most for which searches you show up in. You can add a few more later.
When Google asks if customers can visit, answer No. That makes you a service-area business.
Google needs a real address to verify you, but it stays hidden from the public. Never use a PO box or a virtual office.
Cities, ZIP codes or counties, up to 20. Google's guideline is to stay within about two hours' drive of where you're based.
Use the number that rings you or your receptionist, and your real website. They should match your site exactly.
Google picks the method: a short video, a phone call or text, an email, or a postcard. Don't change your name or category while it's checking. That can restart the clock.
Hours, a description (up to 750 characters, in plain words), your services, your logo, a cover photo and real photos of your work.
Use the "Get more reviews" link Google gives you. Reply to every review, good or bad. Never buy them.
Skip these
We did this ourselves
Sark Labs works the same way: no storefront, a hidden address, and Los Angeles County as our service area. This week we set up our own profile with exactly these steps, and matched it on Bing, Yelp and our website.
Want the whole checklist for showing up in AI answers too? Read how to get your business recommended by ChatGPT.
Questions
No, not as long as you set it up as a service-area business and leave the address hidden. Google uses it only to verify you.
Your service areas tell Google where you work, but where you're based still weighs heavily. Pages on your website for the services and areas you cover help a lot.
Often a few days, sometimes longer. Until it's done the profile isn't public, so do it early.
Yes. Google's own AI answers use your Business Profile directly, and other AI tools cross-check listings like Bing Places, Apple Business Connect and Yelp. Keep them all the same.
Want it done for you?
Tell us your business and where you work. A person reads it, usually the same day. Or see our SEO & GEO service, and the AI receptionist that answers the calls your profile brings in.